The 21st SOS [Special Operations Squadron] flies the MH-53M
helicopter capable of long-range flight due to its ability for aerial
refueling from the MC-130P Combat Shadow assigned to the 67th Special
Operations Squadron. The Combat Shadow, in turn, can be refueled in
air by the KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 351st Air Refueling
Squadron. The 21st Special Operations Squadron's mission consists of
day or night, all-weather, low-level penetration of denied territory
to provide infiltration, exfiltration, resupply, or fire support for
elite air, ground, and naval forces. The unique capabilities of the
MH-53 the squadron operates permit operations from unprepared landing
zones. The 21st Special Operations Squadron previously operated the
MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter.

The 21st
Special Operations Squadron was reactivated on 1 May 1988 at RAF
Woodbridge, England. Flying the MH-53, it was assigned to the 39th
Special Operations Wing (though attached to the Joint Special
Operations Task force at Batman AB, Turkey, from 13 January–18
March 1991 and from 6 April–10 June 1991 at Diyarbkir AB,
Turkey). The 21st provided support to coalition forces during
Southwest Asia conflict, from January to March 1991 and later.

The 21st relocated to
RAF Alconbury, England, and was reassigned to the 352d Special
Operations Group, on 1 December 1992 (though attached to Joint
Special Operations Task Force from 2 March–12 July 1993,
deploying during that period to Brindisi AB, Italy and Incirlik AB,
Turkey).

Joint Task Force
Provide Comfort deployed to Incirlik Air Base at Adana, Turkey, on 6
April 1991. The initial Provide Comfort deployment was a scaled-down
package made up of the lead elements of the USAF 39th Special
Operations Wing (SOW). This unit was first labeled "Express
Care." The 39th SOW was comprised of the 7th Special Operations
Squadron flying Lockheed MC-130 Talons, the 21st Special Operations
Squadron flying Sikorsky MH-53J Pave Low deep-penetration search and
rescue helicopters, and the 67th Special Operations Squadron flying
HC- 130 aerial refuelers. Its ground organization included command,
administration, ordnance, maintenance, supply, and support personnel.
The ground component of Joint Task Force Express Care was the 1st
Battalion, 10th SFG (A). The Army's Special Forces were experienced,
highly skilled, unconventional warriors specially trained to work and
live with indigenous populations in remote areas. About 200 Special
Forces soldiers were assigned to support Provide Comfort. General
Garner tasked Colonel Jones to move the 24th MEU (SOC) into northern
Iraq on 20 April to secure the town of Zakho. In preparation, a
flight of two MH-53J Pave Low helicopters from the USAF 21st Special
Operations Squadron made a reconnaissance of the area. They brought
back photographs and video imagery of the Operations area and
potential camp sites.

A MH-53 Pave Low from
the 21st Special Operations Squadron, RAF Mildenhall England was
escorted by two Hungarian Hind MI-24 gunships over Balaton Lake on
their way to Szentkiralyszabadja airfield Veszprem, Hungary for
participation in the Hungarian/US Bilateral Rescue Exercise Combined
Rescue 95. The Stokes litter on the Pave Low is designed for rapid
extraction of injured when landing it is not the safest option.

In 1998 an Air Force
MH-53 Pave Low from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, RAF
Mildenhall, England flew out of San Vito, Italy in support of the
Bosnian peacekeeping mission.

An MH-53J Pave Low
helicopter from the 352d Special Operations Group's 21st Special
Operations Squadron, landed aboard the USS Monongahela operating in
the Mediterranean Sea 04 February 1999 The helicopter, call sign SKAT
08, got an emergency call to evacuate a seaman with appendicitis for
transport to the hospital in Lecce, Italy. The patient was
transferred and is currently undergoing tests. The helicopter
returned to Brindisi Air Station, Italy, without incident.

The 21st Special
Operations Squadron participated in a combat search and rescue
mission for the pilot of a downed F-117A stealth fighter during the
air campaign against Serbia and the forces of Yugoslavian President
Slobodan Milosevic. A transmission from a refueling tanker stating it
had received no response from his F-117A customer. Then followed
reports the stealth fighter was missing or shot down. Soon after, the
MC-130P Combat Shadow crew took off enroute to Bosnia-Herzegovina for
a rendezvous with three rescue helicopters. Two were MH-53 Pave Lows,
one from the 21st SOS and the other from the 20th SOS at Hurlburt
Field, Fla. The third helicopter was an MH-60 Pave Hawk from the now
deactivated 55th SOS at Hurlburt Field. The plan called for the
rescue helicopters to refuel immediately before crossing the Serbian
border to allow them to operate with full fuel tanks. After more than
90 minutes of orbiting close to the border, the call came from the
helicopter crews for the desperately needed fuel that would enable
them to continue the rescue mission. The refueling took place at the
unusually low altitude of 700 feet within three miles of the Serbian
border. President Clinton called the 352nd SOG commander to give
personal thanks.

In 1993, the the 352nd
Special Operations Group, RAF Mildenhall, England, and the 16th
Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla., initially deployed
people and equipment to San
Vito while supporting Operation Provide Promise, a humanitarian
airlift that sustained thousands of sick and starving civilians
trapped by Bosnia's civil war. Eventually, as Balkan peacekeeping
efforts began in earnest, that tasking switched to Operation Deny
Flight, with 352nd SOG and 16th SOW resources staying put. And they
maintained a sizable presence there as long as US F-16 Falcons,
French Mirages or English Tornadoes continue flying air-policing
missions. Supporting the fighter community is a big part of the
mission. The Squadron has an all-weather, around-the-clock capability
to go in and get them if anything goes wrong.

Things did "go
wrong" for one French aircrew on Aug. 30, 1995, during the first
day of Operation Deliberate Force, NATO's bombing campaign that
eventually forced Bosnian factions into a truce. Within an hour after
the campaign began, Serbian ground forces shot down a Mirage,
capturing its injured pilot and weapon systems officer. Unaware the
Frenchmen were prisoners, special operations members flew nightly
reconnaissance missions into Bosnia from Italy, hoping to locate and
then rescue the men. On one flight, two MH-53 Pave Low helicopters
from Mildenhall's 21st Special Operations Squadron - exposed by
bright moonlight - came under heavy anti-aircraft and small-arms
fire. Seventy-five miles deep into hostile territory, the choppers,
call signs Knife 44 and 47, slugged their way out while receiving
help from a Hurlburt AC-130 Spectre, two A-10s, two Marine F-18s and
a Navy EA-6. Staff Sgts. Dennis Turner and Randy Rutledge, Knife 44
side-gunners from Hurlburt's 20th SOS, were wounded by searing
shrapnel during the fight but managed to return a furious fusillade
of their own. Both men received Purple Hearts.

Mildenhall's 21st and
7th SOS, using MH-53s and MC-130H Combat Talon IIs, also ferried
troops into Sarajevo and Tuzla, and played a key role in Bosnia's
1996 elections by flying 54 U.S. delegates - including special envoy
Richard Holbrooke - to eight polling sites scattered throughout the
war-scarred country. During the delegate shuttles, Hurlburt 16th SOS
Spectres patrolled travel routes, and MC-130P Combat Shadows from
Mildenhall's 67th SOS refueled helicopters and provided airborne
command and control.

As the only Air Force
special operations unit permanently aligned under U.S. European
Command, the 352nd SOG works a variety of theater contingencies, such
as evacuating civilians during African coup attempts or supporting
Operations Southern and Northern Watch in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. It
also rushed troops to Dubrovnik, Croatia, when an Air Force CT-43
carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed into a mountain.
Arriving in a nasty rainstorm, 21st SOS Pave Lows inserted the first
search-and-rescue teams, followed by a 67th SOS MC-130P. Mildenhall
crews remained on scene until the last body was removed.

In mid-1996 Air Force
Special Operations Command helicoptersy passed the 5,000 flying-hour
milestone supporting NATO's Bosnian operations. MH-53J Pave Low III
crews from both the 21st Special Operations Squadron, RAF Mildenhall,
U.K., and the 20th SOS, Hurlburt Field, Fla., provided combat search
and rescue capability for more than three years and continue flying
missions supporting Operation Joint Endeavor. The Pave Lows did
numerous combat search and rescue missions, including two missions
into Bosnia to search for two French crewmembers shot down during
Operation Deliberate Force. The Paves also aided the Marine
helicopters that rescued Capt. Scott O'Grady in 1995.

In early 1997 members
of the 352nd Special Operations Group, 100th Air Refueling Wing and
3rd Air Force departed for areas around Zaire as part of the enabling
force to support Joint Task Force Guardian Retrieval. Approximately
200 people and aircraft from the 352nd Special Operations Group, 23
people from the wing and seven from 3rd AF deployed to Libreville,
Gabon, in West Africa, while four other wings and 3rd AF members were
sent to Brazzaville, Congo. The wing also supported the operation
with air refueling. The first SOG assets, MC-130P Combat Shadows from
the 67th Special Operations Squadron, arrived in Africa followed by
additional special operations assets including MH-53J Pave Low
helicopters from the 21st Special Operations Squadron. Team
Mildenhall airmen joined about 400 soldiers, sailors and Marines
comprising the joint task force ashore in West Africa. Approximately
550 American citizens were in Zaire and the majority of those were in
the capital, Kinshasa.

The 1,300-member
coalition force, spearheaded by Joint Special Operations Task Force
2, operates 10 miles outside of Brindisi at San Vito Air Station. Its
role: supporting NATO troops deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina and
aircrews monitoring a no-fly zone above that volatile country, where
swarming Serbian mobs attacked Army patrols in September 1997. All
these special ops resources were based at San Vito, but for 34 years
during the Cold War, the place hosted various intelligence people
that intercepted and analyzed transmissions from former Warsaw Pact
countries. You can still see the big Flare-9 antenna - nicknamed the
elephant cage - they used. And though the base supposedly closed in
October 1994, as part of the U.S. military drawdown, the Bosnian
mission keeps San Vito's gates open.

In March 2000 a MH-53M
Pave Low IV helicopter from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, UK
refueled over South Africa from an MC-130P Combat Shadow refueler
from the 67th Special Operations Squadron. Both Squadrons are from
RAF Mildenhall, and deployed to Air Force Base Hoedspruit, South
Africa, to support Operation Atlas Response. The Pave Lows operated
from Air Force Base Hoedspruit where they are deployed in support of
Operation Atlas Response, a multi-national humanitarian relief
mission helping displaced people in central and southern Mozambique
that have been devastated by recent floods. A U.S. Air Force flight
crew used the maiden voyage of one of its MH-53M Pave Low IV
helicopters March 12 to deliver desperately needed clothing to flood
victims in Mozambique as relief efforts here kicked into high gear.
The crew, members of the 21st Special Operations Squadron from RAF
Mildenhall, England, transported more than 4,700 pounds of donated
clothing from the Mozambique town of Palmeira to Xai-Xai, a village
still half-submerged by floodwaters.

An MH-53J Pave Low
IIIE, from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, flew over the
English countryside on 27 May 2000, prior to the start of the 352nd
Special Operations Group flying display during Air Fete 2000 at RAF
Mildenhall, England. Air Fete is Europe's largest military sponsored
air show. The MH-53J's mission is to perform low-level, long-range,
undetected penetration into denied areas, day or night, in adverse
weather, for infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special
operations forces.

Members of two U.S. Air
Force units from Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, England,
participated in the annual Plymouth International Air Show 8-10 June
2001 in Plymouth Devon, England. Airmen from the 352nd Maintenance
Squadron and the 21st Special Operations Squadron provided a static
display of a MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter at the event designed to
raise money for charity. Plymouth Hoe is one of the most unique of
all Air show venues. At nearly 100 feet above sea level, spectators
are level with the aircraft as they perform, creating a unique
experience for the viewer.

The call came in here
early evening 21 May 2002 to rescue two injured passengers aboard a
storm-damaged yacht in rough seas approximately 450 miles off the
southwest coast of England. Answering that call was a combined Team
Mildenhall effort resulting in hoisting the injured man and woman
aboard an MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter and transferring them to a
civilian hospital. Those involved in the daring rescue placed it
among their most harrowing experiences. Because the yacht Persuader
was out of range of British air and sea rescue vessels, the 21st
Special Operations Squadron was called upon. The duration of the
mission stretched across two days and required about 90,000 pounds of
fuel via aerial refueling. The two Combat Shadows received about
56,000 pounds during three aerial refuelings from KC-135s, and the
two Pave Low helicopters received about 32,000 pounds during nine
aerial refuelings from the two Combat Shadows.

Special Operations
Forces and rescue forces were in high demand during Operation Iraqi
Freedom. The MH-53Ms from the 21st SOS conducted missions over Iraq.